Civil engineering is an ancient profession, with civil engineers responsible for designing and overseeing the construction of vital infrastructure. Technologists support civil engineers by using drafting and design tools to realize their concepts.

Civil engineers and their technology teams are involved in constructing everything from office buildings and airports to sewage plants and transportation systems, utilizing CADD (computer-aided design and drafting).

Computer Aided Design (CAD) aids in the engineering process, including creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) software facilitates the digital manufacturing process. By interfacing the designed product from CAD software with CAM software, one can obtain manufacturing details. CAM software allows for the selection of the most efficient manufacturing method. Additionally, CAD software enables product analysis by applying various constraints like load, fixed ends, pressure, etc. Other Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) software is also available for precise analysis of designed products.

Computers and Structures, Inc. (CSI), established in 1975 and headquartered in Walnut Creek, California, with an additional office in New York, is a company specializing in structural and earthquake engineering software. CSI's software suite includes SAP2000, CSiBridge, ETABS, SAFE, PERFORM-3D, and CSiCOL.

CSI's software, ETABS, was utilized to develop the mathematical model of the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) based in Chicago, Illinois. In the structural analysis